Mixed Up Saturday

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Bags, bags and more bags on show today, lots of other goodies too, some shopping too!
I hope that you all have a nice relaxed weekend planned and that the weather is kind to you.
I am looking forward to some of your Background Challenge cards arriving today, I have had some from Janet and Lynda and they are fantastic.

So here we go with today's show and tell......

Danielle and I did a 'Bag' swap recently and this was the bag that she made for me, it is a backpack style bag and its huge, she crammed it full of lovely little crafty gifts too.  The first picture at top of post is of my bag and a smaller version that Dannii made, I had trouble capturing a good shot of it.  Danielle made it out of  SU 'Painted With Love' Dsp, which has rich orange, purple and hints of gold, it really is luxurious paper.  The bag showcases the paper perfectly, it has so much detail, a lovely flap on the front, which is also a fantastic size, there are two stunning embellishments on the front of the bag .....

one of which is this gorgeous little cluster of flowers that Danielle created with the Daisy Punch, you wouldn't believe that if you saw the punch, Danielle added her magic touch, that fine gold thread adds a really luxurious touch.

the detail continued onto the back of the bag, that paper is so beautiful.

The finishing touch is this beautiful tag that Danielle has personalised and added a pretty foam rose,

a few glitter gems for sparkle and finished with gold ribbon and twine.

Dannii, I absolutely love the bag you made for me, it has pride of place in my craft room, you are so clever.  Thank you so much.  XXX

Danielle

Danielle made cute tiny versions of the bag she made me for our swap, she even hand stamped the paper to make them with.  I will leave a link to her blog post, so you can see how she made them....

http://craftingwithdanni.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/hand-stamped-gift-bag-stampin-up.html

Thanks Dannii, for the stunning bag, which I love and for sharing your smaller ones.

XXX

 Margaret

Margaret has been busy with her needlework, she recently finishes a long term project, a very special cross stitch piece that is Maria's, Margaret offered to complete it for her as Maria just didn't have the time to do it, it is extra special because the red building in the background is where Maria's Mum used to go dancing many years ago.  Margaret finished it and presented to Maria at Ally Pally, is was a beautiful moment to witness as Maria's face showed just how delighted she was as she opened it, i had a lump in my throat as I watched.  You did an amazing job Margaret, the photograph really doesn't do the piece justice, I can't wait to see if stretched and framed.

The second framed Cross stitch is a gift that Margaret made for Rick and Maria for their Silver Wedding anniversary, I am lucky enough to have one of these too, its perfect and such a lovely piece that you can keep out on display, unlike some Anniversary keepsakes, mine has pride of place on the display unit in the lounge.  I know that Maria and Rick will absolutely love it too.  I can see why you enjoy making them Margaret, they are like painting a picture with a needle and thread.

Thank you so much allowing me to share them.

XXX

Lynda

Lynda started a new project this week, apart from making four challenge cards that is!  This thing of beauty started life as........a coffee jar!!
Lynda delved into her lace draws (as in storage, not her frilly knickers)!! and chose a selection of gorgeous lace and dangle trims to 'upcycle' her empty coffee jar.  The combination of pearl trim on the first layer along with the pearl flower embellishments add some sparkle and give a pretty base for Lynda to add some beautiful lace, that pink dangly lace trim is so pretty and works so well with the white dangles hanging in between them.  The top is surrounded with a beautiful wide lace that Lynda has added pearl flowers to, the very top has a gorgeous flower applique on it, it is big enough to create those soft folds that almost look like petals.
I hope you are pleased with how it turned out Lynda, I bet you have the bug now, you will be adding lace and pearls to everything, LOOK OUT Terry, she will be 'upcycling' you while you sleep!
Thank you so much Lynda for sharing your jar with us.

XXX

Angela

Angela still looks in every day and she thought she would share these amazing cards that she made recently, they were for a 30th Wedding Anniversary and 60th Birthday on the same day.

Two beautiful cards Angela, I absolutely love your flowers, have you used Petite Petals to make some of them? I love that flourish on the Anniversary card too.  I bet the recipients were over the moon when they opened these, they are so much more than a shop bought card, aren't they?!

Thanks for sharing your cards Angela.

XXX

Michele

Michele has treated herself to some of Sue's new dies, I love the birdhouse die set, I can think of lots of occasions that you could use those for, New Home, Christmas, I think you could add lace and ribbon and make a lovely 3D project, some of the wood effect paper thats popular at the moment would work really well with these dies too.

The matching sentiment set makes the dies even better, its nice to have Fun sentiments to add to your cards, there are some lovely ones in that set too.

Now Michele you have Father's Day and Dad's Birthday sorted for the next few years, this set will be perfect for your Fund Raising tables at the Church fete too, in fact all of those dies would help build a great selection of cards, quite quickly too.  3 Great sets Michele, I can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks for sharing my lovely.

XXX

My Ally Pally shopping

I always forget to add my shopping to the list when I share the Ally Pally shopping, so I thought I would add them on the end here before I delete or forget about them.

Typically I wasn't really shopping for anything in particular other than some more Cosmic shimmer glue and some low tack tape, you can see from these photos that I bought neither.  I forgot about the glue as we ran out of time and the tape was a ridiculous price on a couple of the stands I saw it on, so I will just order that online.  I also needed the Craft knife and when it's just £1 you'd be daft not to get one.  I didn't bother with their scissors this time though as they seem to blunt after a few cuts, I have always wanted the Tim Holtz scissors and the Tonic stand had them for a really great price, they are amazing scissors, I love them and wish I hadn't waited so long. The Impression Obsession dies were 60% off so I got a few, although they didn't have many.  I couldn't resist Sue's Ava die, its so pretty!

I got some different foam for flower making, Silk foam, the flowers the lady made were so life like, it actually felt like a rose.  

I have wanted the Phil Martin stamps since I saw the launch on Hochanda, I managed to get them but I have to say that my first impression aren't great, they are big so I used my Tim Holtz stamp tool, but I tried and tried but couldn't get a good impression.  Lynda said she had the same issue and got better results by laying the stamp on the table and pressing the paper on to it, I will give it a try.

I also bought some lovely Inkyliscious stamps, one of which I have used on my challenge card this week. 

Thank you to everyone that took part in today's post, as usual we have shared some amazing crafts and shopping.

Have a lovely Saturday ladies,

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxx